Brianna Rollins from the United States celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 100-meter hurdles final during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

RIO DE JANEIRO >> A Japanese journalist asked American hurdlers Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin how they were going to celebrate their historic sweep of the Olympic Games 100-meter hurdles medals, the one and only 1-2-3 of the Rio Games so far.

Was there going to be a girls’ night out? the reporter asked the trio as a late Wednesday night became an early Thursday morning in Rio.

“Well every night we’re together is girls’ night out,” Castlin said.

Such was the case at the Olympic Stadium Wednesday, the U.S. hurdlers putting on yet another exhibition of a dominance unmatched in any single event by another nation in women’s track and field. Rollins, the 2013 world champion, was in control the entire way, crossing the finish line in 12.48 seconds. Ali, the world indoor 60-meter hurdle champion and former USC standout, took the silver in 12.59 and Castlin, Rollins’ training partner, secured the bronze at 12.61, just ahead of Great Britain’s Cindy Ofili (12.63).

“We were ready to go,” Castlin said.

So was Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson, who became the first woman to win both the 100 and 200 titles in the same Olympics since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 in Seoul.

Thompson completed the double with a 21.78 victory in the 200, finishing a tenth of a second ahead of world champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands. Tori Bowie of the U.S. added a bronze at 22.15 to go with her 100 silver medal.

The American long jumpers were nearly as impressive as their hurdling teammates with Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese going one-two Wednesday night. Bartoletta took the gold at 23-feet, 6 ¼, Reese, the 2012 Olympic champion, the silver at 23-5 ½.

Nowhere, however, has the U.S. women or any nation has been as dominant as the Americans in the 100 hurdles. Coming into Rio, U.S. hurdlers owned the top 25 marks in the world this season. The U.S. is so deep that Kendra Harrison, the world record holder, didn’t make the Olympic team. Dawn Harper Nelson, the 2008 Olympic champion, didn’t even reach the Olympic Trials final.

Talk of a U.S. medal sweep in Rio had been rampant in recent months. Prior to Wednesday no nation had ever even gone one-two in the 100 hurdles.

“We knew were in position to do something really special,” Ali said.

The trio felt additional pressure and feeling a need to meet expectations raised by the success of U.S. athletes in other sports.

“Every time I saw somebody get on the stand I tried not get emotional because I was like, ‘Oh my God, I could really get on the stand,’” Castlin said.

“The whole Olympics had gone by,” Ali said. “You had seen Katie Ledecky doing great thing, Simone Biles and so many amazing performances happening. I think that kind of amped up our energy and we just wanted to come out here and get it done so it had us on edge the entire time.”

Indeed Castlin felt relief as much as joy when she realized she rounded out the sweep.

“My thing was not so much a bronze for myself but upholding the team,” she said. “We came into this together. We came into it as a team for girl power in the USA.”

The medals were particularly special for Castlin and Ali, both of whom traveled difficult paths to Rio.

Castlin dedicated her medal to the victims of gun violence. Her father Rodney Castlin was shot to death in 2000.

“Losing my father at the age of 12 to gun violence, I’ve overcome so much,” she said. “I want to connect more with young people that have been victims of gun violence. I feel, when I was young, I definitely had a lot of good guidance but sometimes I didn’t have someone of my age that I really could talk to.”

Ali became unexpectedly pregnant 15 months ago and missed last year’s World Championships. She was able to continue training for almost five months before moving back to Philadelphia to live with her family. She resumed training six weeks after delivering Titus Maximus Tinsley.

“I honestly didn’t think that far ahead to the medal stand,” Ali said when asked if she envisioned medalling a year ago. “I knew it was going to be a difficult road back. I see a lot of mothers out here daily and they struggle just to get their body back and appreciate themselves again because they feel so different; they look so different.

“So I’m happy I was able to come back and come back so quickly and show people like, ‘Hey, not only can I get fit, but I can get back to the world-class performances with me’ and he plays a major role in that. And I want people to know that your children, embrace them completely because they’re a part of your struggle, but they’re a bigger party of your victory.”

Not long after the final, Ali found Titus and held him close.

“We did it,” she said. “We did it.”

In the men’s 200, Justin Gatlin will not get another crack at Usain Bolt in Thursday’s final.

Gatlin, second to the Jamaican in Sunday’s 100 final, was eliminated in Wedneday’s 200 semis. Gatlin, the twice-banned 2004 Olympic 100 champion, was a non-qualifying third in his heat race in 20.13. Bolt advanced to the final, edging Canada’s Andre deGrasse in the second of three semis: 19.78 to 19.80.

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